ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
GeM Samvaad takes off in Four States
Voice of Customer Initiative for making improvements in the portal
A national outreach Programme, GeM Samvaad, was launched on 17th December 2019 to reach out to stakeholders across the country and also local sellers in order to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace while catering to specific requirements and procurement needs of buyers.
The outreach programme began from 19th December 2019 and during the launch week the States of Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are being covered. The outreach programme will be on till 17th February 2020 and will cover all the States and UTs.
GeM senior officers including CEO are steering the programs. They are also interacting with Buyers and Sellers attending the events. Arrangements for the outreach programmes including logistics are made by the respective State Governments. The target is to reach out to all stakeholders and learn from their experiences on their usage of GeM portal. Through this outreach programme, GeM expects to make the actual users aware about the new features and functionalities of the portal and collect feedback, which is the first step towards GeM’s ‘Voice of Customer’ initiative.
State Departments and Organizations and Public Sector Enterprises  have been using GeM for their buying needs. Sellers from the States are also benefitting through the access to national Public Procurement market using the portal. Through GeM Samvaad the marketplace is looking forward to receiving feedback from users which shall be used for making improvements and advancements in the system.
GeM has more than 15 lakh products and around 20,000 services, more than 3 lakh registered sellers and service providers and more than 40,000 Government buyer organizations. In its short journey of three years, GeM has processed more than 28 lakh orders worth Rs. 40,000 crores in Gross Merchandise Value out of which 50% has been transacted by MSMEs.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Bangladesh-India trade agreement important for both countries: Suresh Prabhu
(Suresh Prabhu speaking at a discussion on India-Bangladesh Trade Relations in Dhaka
The UnionMinister of Commerce &Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, said that theeconomic growth of Bangladesh is a model that could be emulated by other Least Developed Countries in the region. He congratulated the Government of Bangladesh led by Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, for the rapid strides made in the areas of economic growth, poverty eradication, and social and human development. Hewas speaking at adiscussion on India-Bangladesh trade relations organized by the Bangladesh Ministry of Commerce in Dhaka yesterday.
He noted that after Bangladesh graduates from the Least Developed Country Status it would no longer have duty-free and quota-free access to the Indian market under SAFTA. In view of this, he proposed that India and Bangladesh may consider signing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement  which would trade in goods and services and investments. Underlining the potential of jute as a natural and environment friendly fiber, he suggested that a Joint Business Group could examine the issues related to this sector.
Suresh Prabhufurther stated that he was looking forward to developing a roadmap for resolving trade related issues in his meeting with the Commerce Minister of Bangladesh today. He also spoke about other issues like upgradation of infrastructure of Land Customs Stations for easing the flow of goods and people. Suresh Prabhu, who earlier held the portfolio for Railways in the Government of India, also said that the two countries may consider the possibility of cooperation in connecting Dhaka with rest of Bangladesh through broad gauge railway lines.
The Commerce Ministerelaborated about the number of initiatives being taken by Government of India likedoubling of farmers’ income,promoting agricultural exports,new industrial policy, identifying and supporting emerging sectors, positioning India in global value chains; a long term holistic logistics policy, district led growth and improvement of ease of doing business, geographical indicators and the target of making India a USD 5 trillion economy in the next 7-8 years. He offered to partner and share experiences and best practices from these initiatives with Bangladesh.
Suresh Prabhu thanked the Commerce Minister of Bangladesh, Mr.Tofail Ahmed, for playing an important role in resolving issues and strengthening multilateralism in the global trading system. He called for continued cooperation of India and Bangladesh to make World Trade Organization a stronger body and support global trade.
Ministry of Education
Class XII resultsof CBSE declared; Trivandrum records highest pass percentage
Girls record higher pass percentage than boys; Meghna Shrivastava tops the exam
The Central Board of Secondary Education  declared Class XII resultstoday. Trivandrum performed best amongst all regions with 97.32% pass percentage followed by Chennai region with 93.87% while Delhi stands at third position with 89% pass percentage. Total 11,06,772 students appeared in the exam out of which 9,18,763 students passed the exam. Overall pass percentage of this year is 83.01% which is nearly 1% more than last year.Meghna Shrivastava of Step by Step School, Sec-132, Taj Expressway, Noida, topped with 499 marks out of 500.Total pass percentage of boys is 78.99% while pass percentage of girls is 88.31% which is 9.32% better than boys.72,599 students scored more than 90% while 12,737 students scored more than 95% in this exam. This year CBSE conducted Class XII exam from 5th March, 2018 to 27th April, 2018.
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Ministry of Finance
Infrastructure Investment
India has been spending much more than Rs 1 trillion per annum on infrastructure. For example, the Budget Estimate of Government expenditure on Infrastructure in 2018-19 was Rs. 5.97 trillion. As per Interim Budget 2019-2020, India has a vision to become a five trillion dollar economy in the next five years and a ten trillion dollar economy in the next eight years thereafter. Infrastructure investment needs to increase commensurately to attain these targets.
Government has taken a number of initiatives to boost infrastructure investment in the economy:
- Government has launched sectoral initiatives such as Bharatmala Pariyojana for development of the road sector, Sagarmala Programme which aims to promote port-led development with a view to reducing logistics cost for international and domestic trade, Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik  - Regional Connectivity Scheme  which aims at facilitating regional air connectivity by making it affordable, Ujjawal Discom Assurance Yojana  for effecting financial and operational turnaround of Power Distribution Companies, etc.
- Government has also launched innovative financing vehicles such as Infrastructure Debt Funds , Infrastructure Investment Trusts , Real Estate Investment Trusts ; mainstreaming of Public Private Partnerships  across infrastructure sectors through viability gap funding; periodic review of Harmonized Master List of Infrastructure Sub-sectors; and establishment of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund .
This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Mines
Mines Secretary Sh. Vivek Bharadwaj Vists HCL HQ Office Appreciates HCL's Special Campaign 2.0 initiatives
Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Govt. was warmly welcomed by Shri Arun Kumar Shukla, CMD, HCL, along with all the directors, CVO and senior officials, on his maiden visit to HCL Corporate Office in Kolkata today.
Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, being greeted by Shri Arun Kumar Shukla, CMD, HCL
In a detailed presentation, the Secretary, Mines, was apprised of the overall activities of the Company along with its ongoing projects. During the meeting, Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, interacted at length with the senior executives of HCL and urged all to focus on enhancing production.
After the review meeting, Shri Vivek Bharadwaj visited the basement area of HCL Corporate Office, Tamra Bhavan, to take stock of the ongoing cleanliness drive, disposal of scrap and weeding out of old files. He appreciated the all-round efforts of HCL in its commitment to the Special Campaign 2.0. Shri Bharadwaj was also accompanied by Shri Upendra C. Joshi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines.
Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, taking stock of the Special Campaign 2.0 initiatives
Praising the endeavor of disposing of the scrap accumulated for decades, the Secretary, Mines, said that this will not only generate revenue but will also clean the work space, improve ambience and motivate all. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, as the saying goes.
HCL Corporate Office is in the process of disposing of around 7.5 tonne of metal scrap, as part of the Special Campaign 2.0 initiative. Earlier, HCL Corporate office in Kolkata had carefully weeded out 2248 old files and archived 16220 of them. In July, 2022, the office disposed of discarded papers and plastic, etc. weighing around 4.6 tonne.
Committing all possible support, cooperation and help in the administrative, policy and financial matters from the Ministry of Mines, Shri Vivek Bharadwaj encouraged the HCL personnel to put their best foot forward in order to build a glorious future for the Company.
Ministry of Finance
Over 65 lakh enrolments in Atal Pension Yojana in Financial Year 2021-22 so far
3.68 crore enrolments since inception of APY in 2015
The journey of Atal Pension Yojana  over six and half years since its inception has been substantive with 3.68 crore enrolments. The performance in this financial year has been good as more than 65 lakh subscribers enrolled which is the highest ever enrolment during the same period since the launch of scheme. Apart from enrolments, male to female subscription ratio of 56:44 is improving and asset under management is around Rs. 20,000 crore.
APY, the flagship social security scheme of Government of India was launched on 9th May 2015 by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with an objective of providing old age income security particularly to the citizen in the unorganised sectors.
Shri Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority , which administers Atal Pension Yojana, said, “This feat of bringing in the most vulnerable sections of the society under the coverage of pension was possible only with the untiring efforts of Public & Private Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Payments Banks, Small Finance Banks, Co-operative banks, Department of Posts and the support extended by the State Level Bankers’ Committees.”
“In addition to achieving One crore enrolment during this current Financial year, going forward we have the task of achieving Pension Saturation in the country and we shall continuously undertake proactive initiatives for achieving it,” the PFRDA Chairman added.
APY can be subscribed by any Indian citizen in the age group of 18-40 years having a bank account and its uniqueness is attributable to three distinctive benefits. First, it provides a minimum guaranteed pension ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 on attaining 60 years of age, Secondly the amount of pension is guaranteed for lifetime to spouse on death of the subscriber and lastly, in the event of death of both the subscriber and the spouse, entire pension corpus is paid to the nominee.
Ministry of Education
MHRD issues directions to UGC, AICTE, NTA, NIOS, CBSE , NCTE and all autonomous organisations under it for the postponement of all examinations till 31st March, 2020 as a precautionary measure in the wake of Novel Coronavirus 
MHRD is taking all steps to ensure safety of students along with the maintenance of academic calendar. I appeal to all students, teachers and parents not to panic -Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'
Ministry of HRD has issued directions to UGC, AICTE, NTA, NIOS, CBSE , NCTE and all autonomous organisations under the Ministry for the postponement of all the examinations till 31st March, 2020 as a precautionary measure in the wake of Novel Coronavirus . These steps have been taken to ensure safety and security of students who are appearing in various examinations, as also that of their teachers and parents.
Therefore following further precautionary measures are required to be taken by all educational institutions and examination boards under the Ministry of HRD.
1. All ongoing examinations may be rescheduled after 31st March 2020,this would include CBSE NIOS as also University examinations.
2. All evaluation work may be rescheduled after 31st March, this would include evaluation work of CBSE, NIOS as also University exams.
3. Since JEE mains may require travel by examinees to different towns and the dates may clash with rescheduled CBSE and other board exams therefore, JEE mains should be rescheduled and new date of JEE mains will be announced on 31st March after reassessment of situation
All educational institutions and examination boards have been requested to maintain regular communication with the students and teachers through electronic means and keep them fully informed so that there is no anxiety amongst the students, teacher and parents.
All Institutions have also been requested to notify helpline numbers/emails which student can access for their queries.
Keeping in view the health concerns of Students, I directed CBSE and NIOS to postpone exams and evaluation till 31st March 2020. I request all Students to follow the health advisory issued by @MoHFW_INDIA.@narendramodi@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan@PIB_India @DDNewslive
— Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank  March 18, 2020
Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has appealed to all the students, teachers and parents not to panic as MHRD is committed to ensure safety and security of students as also the maintenance of academic calendar and all possible steps will be taken in this regard.
Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan
The scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan  implemented during the period 2018-19 to 2021-22 was a demand driven in nature and involved multi-dimensional activities. Funds were sanctioned on the basis of annual plan proposals of States as approved by the Central Empowered Committee of RGSA. Releases were normally made in two installments, the first installment being 50% of the sanctioned amount after deducting the unspent balance available with State at the time of release. The quantum of release of funds was also dependson unspent balance of previous releases, availability of funds with Ministry, deficit in matching share, compliance of the directions received from Ministry of Finance and physical-financial progress reports furnished etc. The States which had high unspent balances and had not providedrequisite utilization certificates etc were not eligible for receiving full amounts, thus resulting in the gap between sanctioned and released amounts.
The scheme of RGSA has now been revamped on 13.04.2022 for implementation from 01.04.2022 to 31.03.2026. States/Union Territories has now been submitting their Annual Action Plan  under the revamped RGSA for consideration and approval of Plan by Central Empowered Committee meeting for release of fund.
This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
AYUSH
Research on Ayush medicine system for treatment of Covid-19
Under various research organizations and National Research Institutes 126 studies have been initiated in 152 centers in the country to identify effective medicine for managing the patients with symptoms of COVID-19. It include 42 prophylactic studies, 40 interventional studies, 11 observational studies, 22 pre-clinical/experimental studies, 01 systematic review, 08 survey studies and 02 monographs preparation. The system wise research studies include 66 from Ayurveda, 26 from Homoeopathy, 13 from Siddha, 08 from Unani and 13 from Yoga & Naturopathy. Total 90 studies have been completed and 10 manuscripts have been published.
The Ministry of AYUSH has formed an Inter-disciplinary AYUSH R&D Task Force having representation from Indian Council of Medical Research , Department of Biotechnology , Council of Scientific and Industrial Research , All India Institute of Medical Sciences  and AYUSH Institutions. The Inter-disciplinary AYUSH R&D Task Force has formulated and designed clinical research protocols for prophylactic studies and add-on interventions in COVID-19 positive cases for studying four different interventions viz. Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchi + Pippali and a poly herbal formulation .
AYUSH 64, a poly herbal formulation developed by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences , Ministry of AYUSH has been scientifically found to be useful in the treatment of asymptomatic & mild cases as standalone and for the management of mild and moderate COVID-19 infection as an adjunct to standard care through robust clinical trials conducted in the country by Ministry of Ayush in collaboration with CSIR and by CCRAS and National Institutes under Ministry of Ayush. AYUSH 64 is also recommended in “National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for management of COVID-19” prepared by National Task Force in consensus from various expert committees.
Further, Ministry of AYUSH had invited research proposals under the Modified Extra Mural Research Scheme for SARS CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease from 21st April 2020 to 10th May 2020. 21 such research projects on Ayurveda medicine system have been funded under the scheme. Out of which 8 are of Private Institutions and 13 of Government Institutions.
This information was given by Minister of State for Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
INDIAN ARMY ISSUES NOTIFICATIONS AS PER MODIFIED RECRUITING PROCEDURE
The Indian Army has announced modification to the recruitment procedure for Junior Commissioned Officer / Other Ranks / Aginveers. As per the modified recruitment procedure, Computer based Online Common Entrance Exam  will be conducted before the Recruitment Rally.
Notifications for registration have been uploaded on Join Indian Army website; www.joinindianarmy.nic.in. Online registrations for applications are now open from 16 February 2023 to 15 March 2023 where candidates can apply as per their age, educational qualification, physical criteria and other Qualification Requirements .
The recruitment will be carried out in three stages.
In Stage One all candidates who have registered and applied online on www.joinindianarmy.nic.in website will undergo a Computer based Online Common Entrance Exam .
In Stage Two, the shortlisted candidates will be called for a recruitment rally at a location decided by respective Army Recruitment Office  where they will undergo Physical Fitness Test and Physical Measurement Test.
Finally in Stage Three, the selected candidates will undergo Medical Tests.
The Computer based Online Common Entrance Exam  is planned to be conducted at approximately 175 - 180 Examination Centers all over India between 17 April 2023 to 30 April 2023. Educational videos on ‘How to Register’ and ‘How to appear’ in Online Entrance Exam have been uploaded on Join Indian Army website; www.joinindianarmy.nic.in , and on YouTube.
Cost of fee for Online Common Entrance Exam  is Rs 500/- per candidate where 50% of the cost will be borne by the Indian Army. Candidates are required to pay Rs 250/- during online registration of application. They can also give five choices of places for appearing in the Online Common Entrance Exam .
Changed procedure will focus on enhanced cognitive aspects during recruitment and will result in wider and better outreach across the country. It will also reduce large crowds assembling at Recruiting rallies and reduce the administrative commitments in their conduct besides reducing the number of candidates going for medical examination. The process will become more streamlined, simpler to execute and is in keeping with current technology.
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Ministry of Finance
Arrest made by Central Tax, Delhi East Commissionerate involving GST evasion of Rs. 28 Crore
Central Tax, GST Delhi East Commissionerate arrested a Shahdara based father son-duo on 22.05.2018 in case of fraudulent issuance of Input Tax Credit invoices involving evasion of approximately Rs. 28 Crores relating to Copper industry. It is the first case of arrest in Delhi, under the new tax regime that came into force on 1st July, 2017.
Searches were conducted at several places during which various incriminating documents and evidence were found. Investigation that followed revealed involvement of the father and son. Both were arrested under Section 69  of CGST Act and Hon’ble CMM, Patiala House remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days.
As per Section 132 of the CGST Act, issuance of an invoice or bill without supply of goods and wrongful availment or utilization of input tax credit is a cognizable and non-bailable offence if the amount involved is over Rs 5 Crores.
Further investigations are underway and the quantum of evasion is likely to go up. Officers are not ruling out the possibility existence of several other fake firms as the investigation moves ahead.